Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 268,517 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 4,620 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.8% of Arizona State Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $135,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,148,134,000 after acquiring an additional 182,361 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $474.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $436.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $515.18 and a 200 day moving average of $555.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.

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